Former Bridgeton lawyer disbarred

By MATT DUNNmdunn@sjnewsco.comBRIDGETON -- A former Bridgeton attorney admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1963 has lost his right to practice law for unethical conduct.

Basil D. Beck was disbarred from the New Jersey bar on Oct. 10 after the state Attorney Disciplinary Review Board found he acted improperly by accepting a settlement in an automobile injury case without his client's consent as well as refusing to cooperate with investigators looking into the matter.

However, it was Beck's history of ethical violations that ultimately led to him losing his right to practice law rather than simply being suspended.

Beck was reprimanded twice in 1988 for failing to communicate with clients and once in 1990 for showing a pattern of neglect and failure to expedite litigation.

He was suspended for three months in 1992 for failing to cooperate with ethics authorities in three separate ethics investigations.

In 1995, Beck was suspended for three years for gross neglect in 11 matters, improper termination of representations, and lack of candor to a tribunal and in statements to others.

He was reinstated in 1999 and has practiced law in Bridgeton as late as 2004, representing a tenant association at Glen Park Apartments in Bridgeton in a case against their management for failing to provide proper maintenance at the apartment complex.

Beck's last known address was in Florida.

In connection with Beck's 1995 disciplinary case, the majority of the disciplinary board cautioned Beck that his next brush with the disciplinary system would result in disbarment.

"It was clear to us that this time the respondent has gone over the edge," stated William O'Shaughnessy, chairman of the state Attorney Disciplinary Review Board, in a written statement. "He was willfully disregarded his client's well-being, settling her matter without any authority; he has refused to cooperate with the disciplinary system by defaulting in this case; and he has chosen to ignore our clear warning that he was one strike shy of being out."

According to a complaint filed by Graciella Guzman, one of Beck's former clients, Guzman retained Beck to recover damages for injuries sustained in a March 30, 2000, automobile accident.

A trial was scheduled for May 31, 2005.

Shortly before the trial, Beck accepted an $8,500 settlement from one of three defendants named in the complaint.

"Guzman did not authorize (Beck) to accept a settlement,"according to O'Shaugnessy.

When investigators attempted to contact Beck earlier this year in Florida and at three of his previous addresses, their letters went unanswered.

"Convinced that (Beck's) ethical deficiencies are intractable and irremediable, we recommend his disbarment," according to O'Shaughnessy. "(Beck's) conduct has destroyed ... any vestige of confidence that he could ever again practice in conformity with the standards of the profession."

Beck was ordered to reimburse the state disciplinary oversight committee for administrative costs and actual expenses incurred in the prosecution of this matter.